


Cycle

by yeaka



Category: Halt and Catch Fire
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe, F/M, Ficlet, M/M, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-04
Updated: 2020-05-04
Packaged: 2021-03-02 04:26:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,401
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23998957
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yeaka/pseuds/yeaka
Summary: Joe tried to reconcile.
Relationships: Cameron Howe/Joe MacMillan, Cameron Howe/Tom Rendon, Joe MacMillan/Tom Rendon, Joe MacMillan/Tom Rendon/Cameron Howe
Comments: 1
Kudos: 6





	Cycle

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I don’t own Halt and Catch Fire or any of its contents, and I’m not making any money off this.

Even in sleep, Joe can tell who’s touching him—he recognizes the warm cinnamon scent of a familiar omega, and she’s calling his name. She’s _whispering_ it, low and urgent, and for that, Joe lets himself be stirred awake. His eyes crick open to the low morning light, muffled through green curtains. There are blankets all around him. He’s tangled up in a stifling hot, slightly damn nest, with a beautiful man curled up at his side. It’s been too long since he had another man. Tom smells like nothing so much as sweat and sex—his pheromones have settled since the hurricane last night, but his skin’s still flushed and slick, and the way he moans in his sleep leaves nothing to the imagination. Joe’s not surprised he got sucked in. 

Cameron shoves his bare shoulder harder and hisses, “Joe.” 

His attention snaps back to her. She’s leaning over the side of the bed, glaring daggers at him, and for a split second, he can’t figure out why on Earth she’s there. Then he remembers he came by to talk to the man that supposedly has her ear—to try and ease the tension between them. Except he showed up on a stranger’s doorstep to find a gorgeous omega in heat, eager and begging for him, and now he can’t remember if he even managed to mention Mutiny at all. 

Cameron looks like she’s going to murder him if he doesn’t snap back to reality. Somehow, that intensity reminds him of how much he missed her. He grunts, too quiet to wake Tom, “What?”

“Hallway. _Now._ ” She gives him a look that says she’ll kill him if he doesn’t obey, even though alphas are supposed to be the dominant ones. Then she’s storming as silently as possible across the room. Joe vaguely remembers Tom’s mother coming home last night and truly hopes she’s gone out again for the morning. 

It takes Joe embarrassingly long to find his boxers. His clothes are strung out across the room, having been flung carelessly aside, some on top of Tom’s and some woven into the nest. He doesn’t bother collecting more than his underwear. It’s not like Cameron hasn’t seen it all before, and if her friend’s anything like she is, he’ll need a naked alpha again soon anyway. Despite the complexity with Cameron, Joe knows he’ll happily provide. He deliberately doesn’t look at Tom again when he leaves, because omegas passed out from too much sex are always too enticing. 

He slips into the hall and carefully closes the door behind him. As soon as the latch clicks, Cameron half whispers, half snarls, “What the _hell_ , Joe?”

Someone has to be the stable one. Joe’s voice is perfectly steady when he answers, “It’s nice to see you too, Cam.”

“Did you fuck my boyfriend?”

There’s a half-second where Joe’s taken aback. He wouldn’t have done that. He’s not _that_ cruel, not intentionally. It takes more effort to keep his voice cool. “I didn’t realize you were official.”

“We’re n—” Cameron cuts herself off, spluttering, which is about what Joe expected—no labels, no strings, like she wanted with him. Or at least, what she said she wanted. He’s not surprised when she shoves him anyway. “Still! How could you do that? You shouldn’t have—”

The door creaks open. A languid yawn, and then Tom’s squeezing through the crack, joining them in just a t-shirt, long enough to hide where he’s not wearing any boxers. It puts a blush on Joe’s cheeks, even though he just saw _plenty_ of Tom. It’s half the pheromones, half that omegas are so _cute_ when they’re trying to be active during heat. Tom’s cute. He could’ve stayed in bed; Joe was ready to take care of him. Cameron’s edgy and fully dressed but still just as interesting because she’s _wild_. Her face is so expressive. She’s clearly furious with Joe, which hurts but isn’t new, but then she turns to Tom, and all at once, she’s softening. It makes Joe’s chest constrict. She mumbles, suddenly sheepish, “I... sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you...”

“Don’t get after him,” Tom mutters, nodding at Joe, but looking at and talking to Cameron, like she’s the only other person there. “It’s not his fault. He just wanted to talk, but I...” He trails off awkwardly and lifts a hand to scratch the back of his head. His hair’s irreparably mussed. Joe vividly remembers running his fingers through it. Before coming over, he didn’t think he’d like Tom.

Cameron snorts. “No, it wasn’t you. Joe seduced you. That’s what he _does_.”

Partly strangely flattered but mostly offended and annoyed, Joe cuts in, “I didn’t—”

“Why didn’t you call me if you were in heat? I would’ve come over...”

“Cam, we’ve been through this. You’re an omega too. You can’t do anything about heats...”

“So? I could’ve waited it out with you. Like... solidarity.”

“It’s not the same. You know it.”

“But we’re—”

“What?” Tom asks, cutting her off, even though it feels like she was going to cut herself off. Suddenly, Tom’s twice as serious, perfectly coherent and just as heated as she is. “ _Are_ we together? Because I seem to recall _specifically_ asking you that, and you avoiding the question.”

Cameron gets that look in her eye that she does when she’s cornered—Joe knows it too well. He can see the overload of emotions that were never going to be expressed. He wonders if Tom knows how dangerous it is. Just like that, Cameron’s back to anger, gesturing wildly at Joe. “So you slept with my ex? Were you trying to make me jealous or something? Trying to force me into making things official?”

“Of course not!” Tom snaps, clearly affronted. They argue right over Joe like he’s not even there, but he knows better than to get involved. If he weren’t so invested in the outcome of it, he’d probably slink off and get his clothes. “Jesus, Cam, it’s not that complicated! I slept with him because he’s an incredibly handsome alpha and I’m an unattached omega in heat!”

“You think I don’t know what he is? I told you about him—”

Joe almost asks what she told him, except Tom’s already countering, “Besides, if you’d come over, it would’ve just trigger your heat, and then we’d both be in trouble and—”

“I can handle heat!”

“I’m not saying you can’t, it’s just better with an alpha, that’s _it_!”

“Well,” Cameron seethes, switching to sarcasm, “I’m sorry I’m not an alpha for you.”

“For fuck’s sake, Cam, that’s not what this is—I wish _I_ was an alpha for _you_.”

Joe’s a big enough alpha for both of them. But he’s clearly not on the table anymore so makes himself finally ask, “Should I go?” Not that he wants to. But it seems like the right thing to do. Joe’s _trying_ to do the right thing more often.

Cameron finally looks back at him. It gives him a chance to lock eyes with her, to see the shifting flecks of colours around her dilating pupils. Her cheeks are flushed too, and he slowly realizes that it’s not all pure rage. She opens her mouth but doesn’t form any words. 

She slams her fists against her sides and growls, “Damn it, now mine’s starting!”

Tom’s evidently mature enough not to say ‘I told you so.’ Joe knows it’s not the time to offer his services. That’s absolutely _not_ how he was planning to get back in Cameron’s good graces.

Except Cameron grabs his arm and practically kicks the door to Tom’s room open, dragging him through it. Tom’s already weaving around them to climb back into his nest, and then his shirt’s gone, and Joe’s momentarily distracted from Cameron fumbling with her belt. 

She gets it off and wrenches it away, then shoves Joe so hard that he stumbles right down onto the mattress. She’s on him again in a heartbeat, just like the tiger he remembers. Tom’s at his side, mouthing at his cheek. 

Joe’s plans so rarely work out how he envisions them. But he tends to come out on top in the end, or at least start fresh with something just as promising. He kisses Cameron first, then Tom, and then he’s on his back with both of them on top, and that’s a damn good start.


End file.
